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Topic: Strange pour from keg (Read 1249 times)

I have a Belgian pale ale on tap right now. I am serving it through a picnic (cobra) faucet at the moment. It is coming out strangely. I have never witnessed this before.

As I pour it sounds different. There is that rushing gas kind of sound you hear just as the keg kicks only this is a nearly full keg just recently tapped. There seems to be a lot of turbulence through the line as it flows. I notice too that once I finish the pour there is air in the line, it is not full as it would normally be.

The beer is carbonate to about 2 volumes or a little over. It is @ 12 psi at around 43F. It does not taste overly carbonated or like anything is wrong. It is really quite good actually. Except the cloudiness.

I popped the QD off and checked the post then popped it back on. Same deal.

Any ideas what is going on? Why is there air in the line after a pour and why does it sound like it does? Where is the turbulence in the line come from?

Does it flow properly from a faucet? I've heard others with similar problems say they had hops or some debris stuck in the poppet. You might try taking off the out post to see if the poppet is clogged?? Or the O-Ring around the dip tube is leaking... Be sure to let the pressure off first.

I was thinking I might transfer it to another keg to aid in clearig it up some. I was intending on hooking it up to a faucet once I had bottled some. The way I bottle it is just easier to use a picnic tap.

Poppet was a good call. I looked again and the poppet did not seem to be seated right. It was not leaking but was not quite in place. I removed the post and sure enough there was a tiny bit of organic debris. I cleaned it and reset the poppet, tightened it down tight.

Did not solve it though...

So I figured I would transfer it with a jumper to a new clean keg. That did not go smoothly at all. Loads of turbulence, may have oxidized the s*** out of it. Which would be okay as it should not be around too long, but I was hoping to enter it in some competitions.

Anyway, I got half way through and it just was not going smoothly so I stopped. Took the post of again and this time the dip tube. The o-ring was shredded and there was a bit inside the post! I cleaned it all, gave the dip tube a brushing out and replaced the o-ring. Put it all back together and finished the transfer.

Slight improvement but there was still turbulence in the line!!!

So, I am guesing that the bits of shredded o-ring may have damaged the poppet? I am going to tear the whole thing down after I clean it and figure it out.

Lesson learned? Replace those damn o-rings if they look even slightly worn!